


Heir Today, Gone (Adventuring) Tomorrow (Or the one in which Edmund makes slightly better decisions)

by Eternal_Phantom, Providentially_Demonic



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: AU, An AU of an AU, Gen, Prize Fic, if that makes sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:02:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27508810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Providentially_Demonic/pseuds/Providentially_Demonic
Summary: A What-If Splitting Heirs story.In which one tiny mistake makes a world of difference. What if Gothel had not dosed the child heavily enough before she attempted to steal the second heir to the Dark Kingdom?That single error showed Edmund a different path. A path with both his children in his life.
Relationships: Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Edmund/Eugene Fitzherbert's Mother (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	Heir Today, Gone (Adventuring) Tomorrow (Or the one in which Edmund makes slightly better decisions)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pdestructor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pdestructor/gifts).



> A contest prize for [Pdestructor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pdestructor/pseuds/Pdestructor) for getting all the answers right in the little quiz/contest in a previous chapter of [Splitting Heirs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24456757) on the prompt: _For the prize, I would like to choose the short story with one of my ideas. My idea is a little AU from Splitting heirs in which Edmund never had to evacuate the dark kingdom and Cass and Eugene were raised together. That idea appeared in my mind when Splitting heirs was just at the beginning, and I would love to read something like that._

This might be more a series of vignettes, than a cohesive story— but here goes!

~

Edmund took the baby from the midwife with shaking hands. “Melisande—?”

The old woman looked down. “My apologies, Sire, she was too far gone for me to save. I had to— I had to do what I could to save your son.”   
  
“She—” Edmund’s voice wavered, sounding surprisingly fragile for such a proud man.

“Did not survive the birth, Sire.” The woman shook her head.

“No—! Melisande—!” Edmund was shaking as the midwife turned away. But his head came up like a hunting hound at the sound of a feeble little cry, one that did not come from the infant in his arms. He saw red as the old woman clutched her bag— a bag that moved independently of her movements— close to her side. Holding his tiny son against his chest with one hand, he drew his sword with the other.  **_“WRETCH_ ** _! What have you  _ **_done?”_ **

The midwife backed away a step. It was as good an admission of guilt as words would have been, and in a heartbeat his sword had slipped up under her ribs to find her treacherous, blackened heart. She gasped and choked as he let go of the blade to snatch the bag from her weakened grip. Ignoring her crumpling form, he opened the satchel. Inside, tucked between packets of herbs and vials of liquid and swaddled in a soft blanket was a newborn infant, crying feebly, tiny little limbs barely moving.

Hector kicked the dying body of the midwife away and came close to the infant. Edmund warned him off with a growl, but the lanky warrior ignored his king with the ease of long practice. He leaned in to sniff the infant’s breath. “Poppy,” he reported. “She dosed it with poppy.”

Edmund cradled his children close. “Quirin, find me a doctor to make sure they are well. Hector— dispose of that. Adira—” His voice broke.

The warrior woman bowed. “I will attend to the queen, Sire.”

He nodded at her and told Quirin to send the doctor to his study. In the safety of his study, he commanded a servant to build up the fire and seated himself on the floor close to it to keep his tiny children warm. His son and... he peered beneath the cloth... his daughter. He did not fight the bitter tears that dripped down his face, dampening the crowns of their heads. Melisande— his light, his life—

He peered down into unfocused blue-gray eyes. By rights, there should be a witness for this, but he wanted no other than Melisande— who was forever beyond his grasp. “Horace... my son. Cassandra... my daughter.” They had discussed names many nights while she lay ill, a hand always resting on the growing curve of her stomach. Cassandra had been her choice for a daughter and Horace his for a son. He had both of them... but none of them had Melisande. Weeping softly, he held his only reasons for living closer. For them, he would be strong.

~

The lamp was dimmed but gave enough light to read to the two toddlers snuggled on either side of him. “Eugene swung up into the saddle, reaching a hand out to Cas, running behind him, the recovered Ruby of Redgrave clutched to his chest. He caught his brother’s hand and pulled him into the saddle behind him, spurring his faithful Lance at the line of brigands blocking their exit.”

He closed the book as he had reached the end of the chapter, only to find four wide-awake eyes still staring at him, two brown and two storm-cloud gray and all full of eagerness. “Wha’ happens next?” Horace begged, wrapping pudgy hands in Edmund’s tunic. “Don’ stop!”

“More,” Cassandra put in. “Wanna hear more!”

“It’s time for bed,” he admonished gently.

“Don’ wanna!” Cassandra pouted. “Wanna know what happens!”

Edmund was a king, a warrior through and through, but faced with tears and childish pouts, he crumbled. “One more chapter. But that’s it!”

The tears vanished and two little bodies curled close. “One more,” Horace agreed with a wide smile.

“Cas grabbed Eugene’s sword—” He began the next chapter. Before he was through, though, he was certain they had both fallen asleep, and closed the book. Carefully, he slipped out of the bed and tucked the blanket around them. He was just closing the door to their room when he heard Horace’s sleepy voice mumble. “Gonna go on ‘ventures just like Eugene an’ Cas.”

Cassandra mumbled something that could have been assent and Edmund couldn’t help but smile.

~

The twins were eight, the day their father called them into the throne room, this time in front of the small court. Dad had interrupted one of their games of Eugene and Cas Thunderstorm for this, so it had to be something big, and probably something they weren’t going to like.

Horace fidgeted uncomfortably as Quirin made sure they both looked presentable. The knight had been gone for several weeks and when he came back had spent a week talking with their father every evening after dinner. He didn’t like where this was going.

The longer and longer they waited, standing in stiff, uncomfortable outfits, the more rebellious he grew. Dad was doing this deliberately. He just knew it.

By the time Quirin had ushered them into the throne room, he was really angry.

Edmund waved them forward and they both bowed the way they had been taught, though Horace made his as shallow as he could get away with. Cassandra, stuck in a dress, had to do a stupid curtsy, and her angry huff made him even angrier.

“You asked to see us, Father?” Cassandra was still polite as she came up out of the formal curtsy.

“Yes, I did.” Edmund smiled, holding something small in his hand. “Horace, come forward.”

Reluctantly, Horace did as told. This close, he could see that what his father was holding was a painting of a girl with long blonde hair.

Edmund presented the small portrait to his son. “This is Rapunzel, of Corona—”

“Gesundheit."

Behind him, Cassandra snickered.

Edmund shot them both a quelling glare. "You two are betrothed now. When she is sixteen she will come here, to meet you."

"Nope." Horace pursed his lips. He was too angry to be polite. "Not gonna!"

"Horace!" Edmund barked. "Behave yourself. I have negotiated a bride for you. The least you can do is be properly grateful."

"Not gonna! Cass an' I are gonna be adventurers. We don't need some pretty, prissy girl following us around! An' don't call me Horace! It's an ugly name. I go by Eugene now!" He stood defiantly. “I’m Eugene just like the book, and Cassandra is Cass!”

Edmund facepalmed and glanced at Quirin. Quirin merely shook his head. 

"One, your name is Horace and I will call you that. Two, did it escape your notice that your sister is also a girl?"

Eugene looked flummoxed for a moment. "But she's not a girl, she's Cass," he protested, as if that explained everything.

“And a girl.” Edmund returned.

“Actually, I don't identify as a girl or a boy. I identify as a threat.” Cass said primly.

“What?” Edmund looked down at his eight year old daughter, his gaze bewildered.

She cocked her thumb at Hector and Adira. “I got it from them. Hector says I’m more a threat than I am anything else.” Hector snickered gleefully while Adira just smiled in that mysterious way of hers. “So I choose to identify as a threat. I don’t think threats have to wear dresses, either.” She tugged at the skirts of her black on blue embroidered dress.

Edmund groaned aloud. “Children, that is enough. Horace—”

“Eugene!”

“You are being betrothed to Rapunzel of Corona and that is final.”

“Don’t wanna!”

"You know better than that, young man. I know you understand your duty.” Edmund fixed his son with a glare.

Eugene glowered sourly, but subsided with a sulk. He knew Dad was mad when he threw around words like duty.

“You are both dismissed. I expect you to apologize for this misbehavior at dinner.”

“Not misbehaviour if you didn’t tell us how to behave.”

“Horace!”

As the door closed behind them, Eugene could hear Dad mutter to Quirin. “Those two are so contrary.”

“As if you were not the same, Sire, when presented with your betrothal to Melisande.”

“I knew my duty.” 

“And hated it.”

“Shut up, you. Cassandra is only lucky there are no eligible princes near her age or I would have her betrothed as well.”

“I fear she is far more likely to stab a prince than be wed to one, Sire.”

~

“Eww,” was ten-year old Horace nee Eugene’s reaction to the drooling monstrosity that Edmund’s Loremaster, Dessa, presented for the king's blessing. “Why’d she have to go an’ name that after me?”

Cass elbowed him. “Because she did. At least, someone smart will have the name then.”

He shoved her and she twisted his arm up behind his back, causing him to yelp in pain and disrupt the ceremony. He struggled but could not break free. Cassandra had taken to warrior training like a duck to water, while he... hadn’t. He could still fight, but he was never going to be any match for his sister. Edmund cleared his throat and Cass released him. Edmund fixed them with a glare and jerked his head toward the door. They both knew what that meant. They were in for a scolding. 

Eugene slumped as the door closed behind them. “He’s gonna yell at me again.”

“He’s gonna yell at both of us.” Cassandra reminded him.

“You’ll get off easier. He likes you more cause you’re more like him. I’m not.”

“Stop being stupid. Dad loves you.”

“He might love me but he doesn’t like me.”

Cass rolled her eyes and grabbed her brother’s arm. “C’mon.”

“Where are we going?” Eugene asked as he was tugged along. It didn’t do much good to fight Cassandra. She always won.

“Someplace that’ll get us into more trouble.” Cass’s smile was toothy. “If we’re gonna get in trouble might as well go for the whole hog!” She pulled him up a long spiral staircase.

"What're we doing up here? We're not allowed." Eugene asked. 

"That's the fun." Cass grinned, trotting up the stairs so fast it was hard to keep up. She came to a halt in front of a door they both knew, though they had neither been allowed inside.

Eugene rubbed his hands nervously against his pants legs. "We can't go in there. We'll get in trouble. Besides, it's locked."

With a sharp grin, Cass held up a small brass key. "Not for long!"

"Did you take that from dad? He's gonna be so mad!"

"No, I didn't. Remember when he set me to--" she imitated their father's voice. " 'Learn the duties of a lady of the household.' One of those duties is keeping the keys, and I couldn't figure out what one was for so I tried it on every locked door until—” she unlocked the heavy oak door. "It opened this one! I took the key off the set so Dad wouldn't quiz me on what it was to, like he did the rest. So he'll never know!"

She pushed the door open and Eugene followed her into a round room with windows facing the four cardinal directions. It smelled a little dusty but that wasn't what caught his attention. In the center of the room was a white stone plinth, and on it things he'd only heard of their mother using. Edmund had filled their heads with stories of Melisande and her ability to use magic all their lives. He hurried to the table and peered at the objects on it, wanting to touch but a little afraid to. But what broke through the fear was the sight of a small book bound in red leather. "Basic charms." He read aloud, fingers itching to pick up the book. "Maybe we can do magic like mom?!"

Cass shrugged, “Dunno. We can try if you want.”

Before the last word was out of her mouth, Eugene had scooped up the book. He flipped rapidly through it, quickly discarding ones he didn’t understand or had long lists of things he needed. “How about this one?”

Cass peered past his shoulder.  _ “Colōrem Permanens?” _

Eugene pointed at the description underneath it. “It’s supposed to change the color of something pre— perm— for good! We can try to change the color of something— like—” he pointed at one of the heavy red drapes meant to curtain the windows. “Those!”

Cass leaned over his shoulder, lips moving silently as she read the charm. “Water is easy and I know where I can get vinegar, but what’s a mordant?”

“Remember in the “Dyer’s Tale” in The Harrowing Adventures of Eugene and Cas? It’s something they use to make color stick.”

Cass chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. “I think that might be in the stillroom with the dyestuff. I can go look.”

Eugene nodded. You get that and the vinegar and I’ll get some water and then make sure I know what I have to do.”

“You? What am I doing?”

Eugene bit his bottom lip hard. “Dad’s always disappointed in me. Maybe if I can do magic like Mom, he’ll be happier. I have to try.”

Cass looked at him thoughtfully. Then she nodded. “I’ll be back with the stuff. Don’t forget the water.”

She was back in moments, and Eugene read over the spell again, directing his sister in setting up. She placed a little cup on the floor under the curtains, half filled with water from the pump downstairs. “Three drops of vinegar and one piece of the mordant thing, I guess.” The spell called for a drop of the mordant, but all she had been able to find was dried stuff, so they were just going to use a small bit of it. “And a thread or piece of the ob-object to be colored,” he read.

Cass used the tiny pair of scissors on her set of keys to snip a thread from the faded red curtains. Her long black hair came out of its ponytail as she leaned over to drop the thread in the cup, and she brushed it out of her face with an impatient huff. “Wish Dad would let me cut this,” she grumbled. The one time she’d asked, she’d gotten a scolding on what was proper for a lady. It was the first time Eugene remembered her getting a scolding without him. It hadn’t felt any better though, watching her get yelled at had bothered him just as much as him getting fussed at.

Cass backed away from the bowl and Eugene read the charm aloud, as careful with his pronunciation as he was in their language classes.

There was a soundless explosion of light and wind that knocked Eugene on his butt and his head banged into the wall. Yelping, he squinched his eyes shut and gripped his aching head. When the wind had stopped whistling in his ears, he realized the room had gone entirely too quiet. Blinking against the bright spots the light had left, he tried to get up, but he was dizzy. Where was— “Cass?"

There was no answer and he struggled to his feet, swaying. “Cass? Cassandra?!"

Wobbling, he made for the last place he had seen Cass, over by the bookcase. “Cass?"

There was a faint cough and  _ “Owww," _ from a pile of curtains that were lying on the floor. They were still red.

He stumbled toward them. “Cass?"

The heavy door crashed open and there stood his dad and Quirin, both holding swords and looking ready to fight. But there was nothing to fight. 

"What happened? What are you doing up here?" Edmund roared, sheathing his sword and grabbing Eugene by the shoulders, shaking him. 

It made his head hurt more and his vision swam. Tears spilled out of his eyes and he dropped the book he had forgotten he was still holding to scrub at them.

Edmund's eyes followed the book down and he sucked in a breath. “ _ What are you doing? Uncontrolled magic is very dangerous! You could be  _ **_hurt!_ ** _ You could have hurt someone!" _

Eugene's knees buckled and it was only dad's grip on his arms that kept him on his feet. He couldn't breathe without sobbing and it made his head hurt worse, trying to stifle them, but he couldn't make Dad any madder at him.

Quirin made a sound as he fished Cass somewhat clumsily from the curtains she was tangled in. “Sire?" He turned around and Eugene blinked blurry eyes. It looked like he was holding something blue. After a moment, he managed to blink the tears away and realized the bright color was Cassandra's hair, spilling over Quirin's arm in a tumble of sea-blue curls. “I-it worked..." He breathed. Maybe not the way intended, but he had done magic! Just like Mom! Maybe dad would be proud of him now.

He looked up into Edmund's thunderous face and that hope crumbled like sand.

“Look at what you did!” Edmund roared.

Eugene shrank away, unable to stifle a sob this time, and he clutched at his aching head.

“Sire, perhaps we should take them down to the infirmary first. Cassandra is unconscious and it appears Horace has hit his head.” Quirin’s calming voice cut through whatever Edmund was going to yell next and he nodded sharply, scooping Eugene up as if he weighed no more than a sack of flour. Eugene curled into himself as much as he could, cradling his head and trying to keep from crying aloud. It didn’t stop the tears from leaking out of his tightly closed eyes, but at least he wouldn’t be a crybaby.

He was set down on something soft and he cracked his eyes enough to see the brightly lit infirmary. Quirin had lain Cass down on a cot next to him and her hair looked an even brighter blue in the light. Edmund paused beside her cot, fingering a strand of blue. “What did he do?” His voice was still simmering with rage, and Eugene quickly shut his eyes to keep from crying.

His head hurt, he had hurt Cass, and Dad was, as usual, mad at him.

He flinched when someone touched his head, breath escaping in a pained hiss. “There’s quite the knot here, Sire. Chances are he has a concussion.”

“And the Princess?” 

“Aside from the unnatural hair color, she seems fine, though she did take quite a blow to her head too.” The physician answered calmly. “They will require watching for signs of head trauma, but there appear to be no other ill effects.”

“No ill effects? Her hair is blue!”

“It doesn’t seem to affect her health in any way, Sire." The physician was unaffected by Edmund's display of temper. "They should stay here overnight to be sure that they suffered nothing worse than knocks on the head."

Eugene could hear the doctor walk away and cautiously cracked an eyelid. Oops. Dad was looking right at him. "What were you thinking, Horace? Magic, if not controlled, is very dangerous! Look what happened! I expected better from you!"

"He was right, you really don't like him." Suddenly, Cass was between him and dad, pale and wobbly, but as determined as he'd ever seen her. "I helped too, why are you only yelling at him?"

Taken aback, Edmund gaped for a second. "He should have known better!"

"How?" Cass asked bluntly. "We tried. Something went wrong. 'You learn from your mistakes.' Isn't that what you taught us?" She looked surprisingly regal with her blue hair and steady gaze. "You can't hate us for making them."

"Hate you—?" Edmund looked appalled. "I don't— I could never—"

Something in Eugene snapped. "You do. You hate me because I'm not like you and Cass; I'm not good enough!" The tears he'd been struggling to suppress broke free and an ugly sob tore from his throat. He lost the fight to not cry and wailed.

Cass actually put an arm around him.

Eugene knew she didn’t like being hugged, but he clung to her anyway. For once his sister didn't push him away, letting him hide his tears against her side. “I-I thought if I learned magic like Mom, you— you’d finally be p-proud of me!”

“Son—” Edmund’s voice was rough. “You— you remind me so much of her, of Melisande— that it frightens me sometimes. I see so much of your mother in you. You have her eyes, her smile— but most of all, you have her cleverness, her quick mind. I look at you and I expect you to know things that you— that you haven’t had a chance to learn or understand.” 

"Are you telling the truth, or just making that up?" Cass was firmly between her sobbing brother and her father now. Her lower lip was jutting out in a way that would be adorable if not for the current situation. "Cause you're always acting like he's never good enough and you even arranged to give him away to the Coronans. You didn't try to give me away."

Eugene sobbed louder and Edmund felt his heart somehow drop even further. This obviously wasn't just the results of tonight, this had been building in his children's hearts for a while. When his own betrothal was announced he hadn't been especially pleased, as Quirin had pointed out, but understood it as a part of his duty. How badly had he failed for the twins to think it was an excuse to get rid of his son? Gods, he wished his wife was here. She'd never had let things get so bad.

"A betrothal isn't giving someone away, Cassandra. Arranged marriages like this are normal and a way of securing your future. I was betrothed to your mother in the same way. I will do the same for you when I find someone suitable. You two are my world, and I don't know what I'd do if I lost either one of you. That's why what happened today frightened me so much." He sidestepped his daughter and sat down on the bed next to Horace, who was curled up in a ball, sobbing broken-heartedly. Horace didn’t dare look up, so he started badly when strong arms closed around him. 

Edmund’s voice broke. “I fear— I have always expected much of you. Much you are too young to know. I am the fool, son.”

“Why can’t you be proud of me?” His son sobbed.

“I am. I have always been proud of you, your cleverness and your quick mind. Sometimes I forget you are just a child and cannot be expected to understand everything. But as your mother was fond of reminding me, I do make mistakes and it's obvious I've made one now. Horace, my son, I am so sorry."

~

Twelve-year old Eugene fidgeted beside his father and sister as they waited for the procession they could see to arrive. He understood, really, he did, about being betrothed. After that time when he and Cass had both been convinced that Dad was trying to send him away, Edmund had sat both of them down and explained how the ties of marriage brought kingdoms together; brought aid when one or the other was in trouble and ensured that there were children to be certain the family lines continued. But it didn’t mean he wanted to be saddled with some frilly, silly princess. From the books he read, most princesses were nothing like Cass, who was as sharp as the blade she’d earned the right to this year.

They were all swoony and liked fancy clothes and parties and— just  _ bleah... _

Cass’s blue hair had grown out some, and Dad had finally let her cut it to about her shoulders (though with her curls it looked shorter) and her hair was now black to about the middle of her ears and blue below that. Dad had made her put on a headpiece for this meeting, one with a jeweled net that hid the blue. She was wearing a dress, but had refused to relinquish her sword for the meeting, belting it right over the silver and blue dress.

Eugene was dressed up too, and he was no more happy about the stiff, fancy clothes than his sister about the dress. And it felt like they’d already been waiting forever!

Finally, after far too long, the procession pulled up and a herald stepped down from the back of the carriage. “Presenting Their Royal Majesties, King Frederic and Queen Arianna of Corona, and their royal highnesses, Princess Rapunzel and Prince Invictus.”   
  
A man and woman stepped down out of the carriage, the woman holding a young toddler in her arms. Like he’d been taught, Eugene bowed to them, before looking curiously at the girl who had followed them out of the vehicle. She was wearing a lavender dress and had very long blonde hair braided down her back. There was a second thin braid, decorated with beads and flowers, beside her right ear, but it was brown instead of blond. Unlike the rest of her blonde hair, which reached her ankles, the brown lock only reached her shoulder. Huh. That was weird. She curtsied. “Pleased to meet you, Prince Horace.”

Gritting his teeth, Eugene bowed to her properly. “A pleasure, Princess Rapunzel. May I present my sister, the Princess Cassandra?”

Nudging her sword to one side, Cass curtsied. “Hello, Princess.”

Rapunzel blinked several times before returning the greeting, her wide green eyes fastened on Cass’s sword. “A-a pleasure.”

Edmund looked up from exchanging pleasantries with the king and queen. “Horace, Cassandra, why don’t you show Rapunzel around while we talk. Just be back before dinner.”

Eugene bowed. “Yes, Father.” Straightening up, he properly offered his elbow to Princess Rapunzel. With one last glance at her parents, she accepted. Cass fell in at his other side and they left the adults (and the baby prince) behind. “What would you like to see first, Princess?” Eugene asked.

Rapunzel yanked her eyes back to him. Had she been staring at Cass? “Umm, what’s your favorite place? I think we’ll be getting the ‘proper’ tour after dinner anyway, because Dad is really— um, well— he wants to be sure it’s safe.” There was a hint of red on her cheeks and she nibbled at her bottom lip. “Why don’t you show me someplace you like?”

Eugene traded a look with his sister. “Do you like high places?”

She nodded.

“What are you doing?” Cass mumbled on his other side.

“Hopefully, getting her to go back to where she came from.” he muttered under his breath, knowing Cass could read his lips. “I might have to marry her, but nobody said I had to like her... or live with her for that matter.”

He escorted her up and up several flights of stairs until she hesitated on a landing. “Princess?” Eugene kept his voice polite.

She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I’ve been riding in a carriage for the last three weeks. My feet are a bit sore.”

“It’s not much further,” he coaxed. 

She gave him another smile, this one full of gritted teeth, and continued up the stairs.

Finally, they reached their destination and he unlocked the door, bowing her over the threshold and into the room that had once been his mother’s sanctum and now was his and Cass’s. Her green eyes widened as she took in the room with its wide windows and bookcases and— of course— his mother’s workspace. She padded over to a window and gazed out. “Wow, it looks like you can see the whole kingdom from here!”

“Most of it.” Cass responded. She went to shove a hand through her curls in a familiar gesture, and frowned, her fingers caught in the elaborate hair-net. Growling, she tugged it off and shook her half-black, half-blue hair out.

Eugene would have thought she’d been offered a gift from the way Rapunzel’s face lit up. She darted back over, peering at Cass. “Oh my gosh, do you have magic hair too? Can you do magic?”

Cass frowned down at the girl invading her space. “No. He does the magic. And what do you mean too?”

“Oh—” Rapunzel deflated a little but she was still grinning. “My hair glows when I sing.”

“Terrific, you’re a night light.” Cass snarked.

Rapunzel flushed a little, but shook her head. “I can heal people too.” She bit her lip and then looked at one of the scrapes on Cass’s hand (a side effect of sword training that morning) and grabbed the taller girl’s hand, ignoring her attempt to pull away. She plopped the end of her long braid on the hand and started singing something about a flower. Her hair did indeed start glowing like a beacon, but right before his eyes the scrapes on his sister’s knuckles were fading.

Cass pulled her now-undamaged hand away and she and Eugene both stared at it. “Whoa.”

Eugene shook himself out of the daze. “Neat trick, but it doesn’t matter. Glowy hair isn’t gonna help me and Cass. We’re going to be adventurers!” He waved at the nearest window. “Just like in the book, we’re going to explore and find treasure and— and—”

Rapunzel looked at the sword on Cass’s hip. “Swordfight?”

“Yeah.” Cass responded.

Rapunzel’s smile glowed brighter than her hair did. “I’ll come with you. I can heal you after fights and learn to use a sword and we’ll go find things like the Ruby of Redgrave and stuff!”

“You can’t— Wait, you read ‘The Harrowing Adventures of Eugene and Cas Thunderstorm’?” Eugene blurted.

“Yep, and the sequel ‘The Thunderstorms on the High Seas’!” Rapunzel cheered. “I like them so much better than the Tales of Flynnigan Rider, even.”

“There’s a sequel?” Eugene’s jaw dropped.

“Two actually, but I’m not getting a copy of the new one until my birthday, Dad said.”

Eugene looked at his sister. She stared back. “Okay, you can come with us.” 

Rapunzel pulled off her shoes and danced a merry jig, before chucking her dainty slippers right out the window. “I’m not gonna wear those on adventures! I hate shoes!”

“But that hair’s gonna be a problem.” Eugene frowned at the thick braid.

“I can’t cut it.” She tugged at the single thin brown braid. “It does this when you cut it and can’t heal anymore. So Dad made a rule that I can’t ever have it cut. Mom would have died giving birth to Vic if I had gotten it cut.”

“But still— the gold glowy thing.” Eugene frowned. He had studied strategy with Dad, after all— and glowy hair could lead enemies to them. “That could get us killed.”

Rapunzel frowned for a second before her face lit up with a new smile. “You can change my hair color, like you did hers! Then it won’t glow gold.”

Cass looked over at her brother. “Can you?”

He chewed on his lip. “I’m pretty sure I can. I know what we did wrong now.”

“Then let’s do this!” Rapunzel bounced eagerly. “Please, Horace!”

He studied her for a moment. “Call me Eugene.”

“Like in the book?”

“Yep. I go by Eugene— except to Dad.” He tipped his head toward Cassandra. “She goes by Cass.”

“Ooohh! I like it. Can I have a different one too?”

Eugene wracked his memory for a character in the book.

“Raps.” Cassandra said suddenly. “You can be Raps.”

“That’s not a name in the book,” Eugene protested.

“It’s from one of my favorite chapters, where Cas had to go in disguise. He said he was—”

“Under wraps!” Rapunzel caroled gleefully, “I love it!”

~ 

They snuck down to Cass’s room to change out of their stiff, fancy clothes. Eugene had some of his comfortable clothes hidden there so the maid wouldn’t steal them again, saying that they were not appropriate for a prince. Rapunzel’s eyes widened as Cass came out in a tunic and pants. “You wear pants?”

“Easier to move in. I don’t think any of mine will fit you though. You’re shorter than me, and kinda scrawny.”

Rapunzel borrowed a day-dress that Cass had never worn, a soft-ivy green that went well with her new leaf-green hair. Even though she had plucked one of the brown hairs, the magic had done it’s work well and her entire head of hair was now the same color. She had tested to see if both her healing magic and the glow of her hair still worked by healing a scrape on Eugene’s knee (his own souvenir from sword training this morning) and it had worked perfectly, her hair glowing a muted emerald. Much easier to disguise than sun gold.

They slipped past the great room where Edmund was entertaining the visiting royals, and after a brief theft of the kitchen (Cass and Eugene had sneaking food down to an art) made it to the relatively unguarded stables. Rapunzel eyed the massive horses uncertainty. “Those are a lot bigger than my pony.”

Cass grinned, sharp and fey. “Wanna see something even bigger?” She led the way to an enormous box stall, the sounds of something huge rustling the hay on the other side of the wooden door that none of them were tall enough to see over.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Eugene muttered to his sister as she unlatched the door. “That thing doesn’t like me.”

“Proves she has good taste. Besides, she’s faster and can carry all three of us. If we want to go exploring, we need to move fast before anyone knows we’re gone.”

Cass swung the door open and stepped unafraid into the stall, holding out one of the apples they had taken from the kitchen. Rapunzel gasped at the sight of the massive, armored-looking gray beast. “Whoa. She’s amazing! What is she?”

Leibe crunched the apple contentedly, snuffling wetly in Cass’s palm. “This is Liebe. She’s a rhino. Hector— one of Dad’s knights— brought her back from a trip to I don’t know where last year.”

Eugene grimaced and eased away from Leibe’s horn. But Rapunzel had already gleefully taken to the massive beast, cooing and scratching its small ears. “She doesn’t like me. She only likes Cass, Hector— and now you, I guess.”

“She’s just a big sweetheart!” Rapunzel cooed as Cass saddled Leibe, having to use a footstool to reach high enough to throw the saddle over her.

Eugene groaned. “Can we just go before Hector finds us out here?”

They had made their escape unnoticed, though Eugene wasn’t sure how, and rode into the cover of the forest. “Where should we go?” Rapunzel asked, seated between Cass and Eugene on Liebe’s broad back.

“Well we have to be back by dinner, so it has to be a small adventure,” Cass hummed, tapping her bottom lip thoughtfully.

“We could just keep riding,” Eugene added. “By the time they notice we’re gone we could be halfway to the border.”

Cass reached back and pinched his thigh. “Not yet. Big adventures have to be planned for, and we only brought enough food for lunch.”

“Be logical.”

“Someone has to be.” Cass retorted. “If we stick to the woods, there’s a couple of caves we can explore by the river. Or we could take the trade road for a few miles until it puts us out near Sonheili, and from there we can make the Crystal cove. Both of those options will give us enough time to explore a little before we have to head back for dinner.”

“Which one gives us more time to explore?” Rapunzel asked.

“The caves. They aren’t that far on horse— or rhino— back.”

“Then the caves!” Rapunzel cheered. “I want to see as much as I can while I’m out of Corona.”

“Don’t you have caves in Corona?” Eugene muttered. “Caves are caves.”

“I’m sure we do, but this trip is the first time I've been off the island.” Rapunzel muttered, hunching her shoulders a little. “When I was three, Princess Leilei of Koto was kidnapped. They got her back, but it made Dad scared and he wouldn’t let me go anywhere off the island before this trip.”

“I’d have gone stark mad.” Cass muttered. “I learned how to sneak out of the Castle before I was six.”

“Yeah, and that time you nearly fell into the lava tunnels, too.” Eugene prodded.

“But I got out.”

“Slightly extra-crispy.”

Rapunzel broke into musical giggles. “I want to see everything! You’ll have to show me those lava tunnels later!”

“Joy.” Eugene muttered.

Cass snorted at him. She turned Leibe to follow the river until they emerged from the shelter of trees by a ragged cliffside. At the base was a large, dark opening, half-screened by a tangle of vines. Cass reined up the rhino and swung her leg over, sliding down Liebe’s side to the ground. She offered a hand up to help Rapunzel down from the huge beast. She slid down and danced a few paces, twirling and giggling as the grass tickled her bare feet.

Eugene landed less than gracefully as Leibe decided to move while he was sliding off. He glared at the rhino. “You did that on purpose!”

She ignored him, all her attention on a patch of juicy moss.

Cass dug in the sack she’d slung over her shoulder and pulled out a firestarter and three small oil lanterns. She lit them and passed one to each of them. “Let’s go.”

Rapunzel, ever eager, led the way.

**_“Go away!”_ ** A hollow, booming voice came from the mouth of the cave.

Rapunzel yipped and stumbled back a few steps, nearly dropping her lantern.

Cass drew her sword. “Who are you?” she challenged.

**_“I am— I am the ghost of these caves. Go away or I’ll curse you!”_ **

“You’re no ghost.” Cass retorted. 

**_“I am!”_ **

“You are not. There are ghosts in our castle, and you don’t sound anything like them.” Cass responded, teeth bared in a snarl. “Now come out or I’m coming in there after you.”

**_“Wait— you live in a castle?”_ **

“A big black one!” Rapunzel added helpfully.

**_“Go away! I’m— I’m a bandit and this is my hideout!”_ **

Cass grinned. “Great! Eugene, you go back for the guard. Raps and I will hold him here until you get back. We’ll be heroes if we catch a bandit!”

“Yeah!” Rapunzel jumped and snatched up a broken branch almost as tall as she was.

**_“Wait! Wait— please. I’m not a bandit, really!”_ **

“Then come out!” Rapunzel challenged, swinging her stick hard enough to nearly knock herself over. 

“Don’t hurt me!” Without the hollow echo, the voice sounded like their age, maybe a little younger. Holding both hands up in the air, a lanky kid sidled out of the cave. He was taller than Eugene and still bore traces of baby fat in his face, making his cheeks look pudgy. He had no hair on his head and skin as brown as his eyes. 

He stared wide-eyed at Cass and Rapunzel. “Whoa— why’s your hair funny colored?”

“Because we’re monsters and will eat you if you don’t behave and answer our questions.” Cass retorted, grounding the tip of her blade between her feet and grinning ferally at him.

He yelped and retreated into the entrance of the cave. “Don’t eat me!”

“Cass!” Rapunzel scolded.

“Yeah,” Eugene grinned at his sister. “You aren’t supposed to eat strangers, and he’s stranger than most.”

“Both of you—” Rapunzel sighed, exasperated. She dropped her branch. “No one’s going to hurt you— or eat you. My name’s Rapunzel. What’s yours? Where are you from? You don’t live in this cave for real, do you?”

The boy eyed her suspiciously for a moment, but apparently decided she had control over the other two. “My name’s Arnwaldo. I used to live in Vardaros at the orphanage. But they were mean to me, so I ran away. I hid in a caravan wagon until they found me. I got away before they could send me back and I’ve been hiding here for... I don’t know how long. I got sick and kinda lost track of days. By the way, don’t eat the yellow mushrooms.”

“We won’t.” Rapunzel giggled. “Are you hungry? We have food.”

His eyes went wide. “I’m starving!”

In spite of Eugene’s frown, Rapunzel latched onto Arnwaldo’s hand and pulled him back toward where they had left Leibe. Cass rolled her eyes, but sheathed her sword and followed. Grumbling, Eugene followed.

They unpacked the food they had brought and sat on the mossy riverbank to eat. Arnwaldo told them more about his travels to wind up here, and Rapunzel gleefully told him that they were going to be adventurers, like the characters in their favorite books, and that Eugene could use magic. “He turned my hair such a pretty green, and Cass’s blue!”

Arnwaldo rubbed a hand self-consciously over his hairless scalp. “Can he make me grow hair?”

Grumbling, Eugene shrugged a shoulder. “I dunno. I haven’t tried a whole lot of spells yet.”

"And the first time he did the coloring spell, it exploded.” Cass grinned.

Arnwaldo clapped both hands to his skull. “I don’t want my head to explode!”

Cass laughed and even Rapunzel giggled.

~

“Wait, so you’re a prince and they’re princesses?” Arnwaldo paused with an apple halfway to his mouth.

“Yep,” Eugene answered, all his attention on Cass trying to teach Rapunzel how to hold a branch like a sword. “Cass is my sister and Rapunzel is from Corona. She’s betrothed to me.”

“What’s betrothed?”

“Means we’re supposed to get married when we’re older. I’d rather be an adventurer, but she’s gonna tag along because she wants to learn how to fight— and her hair is magic.”

“Why would you want to be an adventurer when you live in a castle and have servants and anything you want to eat?” Arnwaldo looked like he could barely comprehend that thought.

Eugene pitched a pebble into the river. “Because it’s always, do this, remember this— don’t tell the snobby Baron that his face looks like a rotten potato— behave like a noble. It’s boring and frustrating and I don’t like it! I want to be able to go where I want, and do what I want and be a hero!”

“Bit late fer that, little prince.”

Startled, Eugene shied and nearly went into the river, finding himself staring up into a scruffy, weather-beaten face bearing a truly disturbing gap-toothed grin. The man, dressed in ill-fitting armor and clothes that might once have been rich but were now reduced to stained rags, loomed over the two boys, holding a sword.

“Found us a right cache o’ conies, eh, lads?” he called cheerily.

Eugene dared a glance over to where Cass had shoved Rapunzel behind her and was guarding her from three more men, as disreputable as the first, and all of them armed. Cass had her sword, but the odds were against her.

“Betcha we c’n get our choice o’ riches fer the safe return o’ some royal brats.”

“I’m not a royal brat!” Arnwaldo yelped.

“Well, then you ain’t much use t’ me, boyo.” the man stepped forward, his sword hovering near Arnwaldo’s face.

“Wait, what’s your measure of royalty? Don’t kill me!” Arnwaldo flinched back.

“He’s my squire!” Eugene found his voice. “He’ll be my knight when we’re older! Don’t kill him!”

The man regarded him narrowly for a moment before moving his sword away from Arnwaldo. “Fine. S’pose they’ll pay t’ get ‘im back. Either that or we’ll send ‘im back a piece at a time t’ prove we’re serious.”

“I don’t think you want to do that.” Eugene pulled himself to his feet.

“An’ who’s gonna stop us?”

“Liebe.”

“Who?”

Across from them, Cass whistled, loud and shrill. 

There was a bellow of anger from the underbrush and suddenly several hundred stone of rhino was charging into the clearing, lowered horn aimed for the nearest of the attackers. He only barely managed to not get gored, but was rudely shouldered aside. The second man wasn’t so lucky and had only a moment to look horrified at the horn sprouting from his chest before Liebe tossed him aside with a snort. 

Cass had engaged the third with her sword, and Rapunzel had grabbed a branch and started whaling away at him with it, while he was trying to defend himself from Cass’s darting attacks.

The man confronting the boys snarled and tried to latch onto Eugene’s shirt. Eugene kicked him hard in the knee. Cursing, he staggered and swung his sword wildly.  _ Too close! _ Eugene dove out of the way, but that gave his attacker a chance to recover, and he was mad now. He came after Eugene with a growl and slashed at him.

Yelping, Eugene dodged, never more glad of his sword training as he was right then. He knew how to dodge, but he’d give anything for a sword.

The man kicked him in the thigh and Eugene went down hard. Grinning wildly, the man bent over him, lowering his sword to rest the tip on Eugene’s throat. “Call ‘em off.”

Eugene shook his head, feeling the cold metal sting his neck. 

“I said ca—”

**_Klonk!_ **

The man went cross-eyed and fell over sideways, revealing Arnwaldo standing over him with the large rock he’d just brained the man with in shaking hands. “Are— are you okay?”

Eugene shoved the large (ew, and smelly!) man off him. “Yeah. Thank you.”

Arnwaldo dropped the rock and offered a hand to help him back to his feet. “Welcome. What about—”

Just then, there was a yelp, followed by a thud. Eugene looked over to find his sister and Rapunzel standing over the other man. Cass pulled her sword free of the man’s foot that she had pinned to the ground, while a panting Rapunzel dropped the branch and shook her hands out. “His head is hard,” she complained. 

Eugene hurried over. “Are you two okay?”

Cass wiped a wide streak of blood off her cheek to reveal a thin slice running from the bridge of her nose to almost her ear. “Not bad. It stings a little, but I’ve been hurt worse in training.”

“I can fix it!” Rapunzel put in.

“Nah, it’ll be a cool scar. An adventurer should have one of those.” Cass grinned, wiping her blade on the unconscious brigand’s tunic.

“Uh, Dad’ll freak if he sees you got hurt.”

“Where’s the fourth one?” Arnwaldo asked nervously.

Cass pointed toward the river, where Liebe was getting a drink, small ears twitching nervously. “She stepped on him. He’s not getting up again.”

Rapunzel grabbed Cass and made her sit on a rock, holding the end of her braid up to the cut on her cheek. “So what do we do with the other two?” She asked before launching into her song.

“I say we take them back with us.” Cass muttered, holding her head very still. “There’s a whole coil of rope in my bag. We can tie them up, and Liebe can carry them home.” She grinned suddenly. “Hard for Dad to yell at us when we stopped four men!”

Eugene’s eyes lit up. For all Dad’s assurances, sometimes he still felt like he saw him as a failure. This would prove that he wasn’t, that they could take care of themselves.

~ 

They were only halfway back when the search party found them. They’d been slowed by the need to walk, since Liebe couldn’t carry all of them and the two unconscious men. Hector and Adira rode up to them, Strum and Drang having tracked their scents. Adira took Cass and Rapunzel up with her on Speckles, her huge spotted horse, leaving Eugene and Arnwaldo to ride with Hector

It took most of the ride back to the castle to explain what had happened, though Arnwaldo kept losing track of whatever he was saying whenever he glanced at Adira. After the fourth round of him trailing off in mid-sentence, Hector grumbled in his ear, “Twenty years before you’ve even got a chance, kid.”

Arnwaldo flushed a dark red.

Unfortunately, because their absence had been noted, this meant that Edmund and the two Coronan royals were waiting for their arrival. Eugene flinched at the thunderous look on his father’s face. Ooh, boy— they were in for a major scolding.

Before Adira had even reined Speckles to a halt, Rapunzel had slid off. She stumbled a little because it was a long way down, but she recovered quickly and pelted over to her mother, chattering at high speed about all the fun she’d had. Arianna looked a little askance at her very green hair, but smiled indulgently, crouching easily to listen to her daughter’s enthused chatter. As soon as Cass dismounted, Rapunzel rushed over and grabbed her, pulling her into the conversation, gesturing wildly and pointing at Cass’s sword.

Edmund looked like he’d rather be yelling, but instead just glowered. “Take those two to the dungeons. It’s a good thing you two were in time to rescue them.”

Hector scoffed aloud. “They saved themselves. We came in to find them coming back with these two tied up. And they left two bodies back there. I think they did fine, Sire.”

Edmund paused, his scowl falling away. Then he turned to Eugene. “Tell me everything.” There was none of the expected anger in his voice.

Bracing himself, Eugene began the recitation of the day's events, not leaving anything out because he knew if Dad found out about it later, he’d never hear the end of it. Before he was done, Cass, Rapunzel, and even Arnwaldo had come to add things to his tale.

Edmund and Arianna listened carefully to their words. Surprisingly, with the queen there, and the others surrounding him, Eugene felt less like he was on trial. It was a nice feeling. 

His dad was looking speculatively at Arnwaldo, and it gave him enough courage to step in front of the taller boy and stand firm. “I said he was gonna be my knight, and he saved me when he didn’t have to, so he’s my squire till he’s old enough and trained enough to be a knight just like Hector, Adira and Quirin!”

“Yeah! And Raps can be my knight too. I already started training her on how to use a sword!” Cass stood shoulder to shoulder with him, giving him that sideways grin of hers. Eugene grinned back.

Edmund glanced at Arianna while Arnwaldo nudged Eugene in the back. “I’m all for being your knight if it means I can live in a castle like this, but who’s Raps?”

Cass tipped her head toward Rapunzel. “It’s her nickname, like mine is Cass and his is Eugene. Like the characters in our favorite book.” 

“Oh. Can I have a cool nickname too?”

Eugene frowned thoughtfully while Dad was busy talking with the Queen. “I know, you can be Lance! That’s a good name for a knight, right?”

The newly-dubbed Lance puffed up proudly. “Lance! I like it! Is it from the books too?”

Cass laughed. “It’s the name of their faithful horse.”

“Wait, what?”

Dad turned back before he could continue. “Very well. He may be trained as your squire. But I am afraid I cannot say the same for the princess.”

Rapunzel started to look mutinous. Cass laid a hand on her arm and stepped forward to address not her own father, but King Frederic. “She said you got scared when the princess of Koto got kidnapped. Well, wouldn’t it be better if she can learn to fight back? She already knocked out a man three times her size. Imagine what she could do with the right training!” Cass folded her arms. “If something happens, she’ll know how to protect herself.”

Frederic tried to look down his nose at the princess (In pants and with a sword on her hip. And was that blood in her partially-blue hair?) confronting him. “The Royal Guard can protect her.”

“But it would be better if she can protect herself.” Cass didn’t back down. “Imagine if they got past the guards and she knew how to stop them herself?”

Frederic paused, one of his greatest fears out there in the open, in the form of a girl-child who could see right through him. His wife laid a hand on his arm. “Perhaps,” he conceded grudgingly.

Rapunzel squealed and threw her arms around Cass’s middle, squeezing hard. Chuckling, Cass hugged back.

Eugene stared at his sister who was well known for her aversion to hugs. “She’s hugging you—”

“Yeah. So—?”

“And you’re hugging back—? You’re okay with this?”

Cass shrugged. “What can I say, she gives good hugs.”

Eugene blinked down at the green-haired girl attempting to squeeze the stuffing out of his sister. “Okay— she’s pretty amazing.”

Cass just laughed.

Frederic stared down at his daughter, with green hair, a torn dress, and muddy, bare feet and muttered, “This was a bad idea.”

Arianna rested a hand on his. “I think this was the best idea you ever had, dearest.” She looked down at Rapunzel hugging her new friend and chattering on excitedly about learning how to use a sword and go on adventures...

“Look at how happy she is. Look at how happy they all are. It’s perfect.”

**

**BONUS:**

Some vignettes that did not make it into the final story but were too cute to not share:

Eugene: Don't call me Horace, that's the loremaster’s son.

Edmund: ...It was your name first, you know...

Cass: Yeah, but smart Horace wears it better.

Eugene: Okay, are you having my back or making fun of me?

Cass: Both. I'm talented that way.

*

(Eugene finds some ink and draws a goatee on his face like the character in the book)

Cass: you look like you squashed a bug on your chin.

Eugene: You're just jealous you can’t have a cool beard!

Cass: Well, apparently you can't either.

*

Edmund: Hopefully Princess Rapunzel will be a good example to my children and calm them down.

(after shenanigans ensue)

Edmund: Oh, my mistake, they were the example and she's joined the chaos. Ah well...

*

Arianna: Edmund, could you perhaps explain why my daughter's hair is green?

Edmund: HORACE!!

Horace (the smart): Sire?

Edmund: Not you. The hellion that is my son!

*

(on the fact that Cass’s blue is permanent until it grows out and the same can be said for Rapunzel’s now-verdant locks)

Rapunzel: So the green will grow out?

Cass: Like mine did.

Rapunzel: Yay!

Cass: ....Oo-kay?

Rapunzel: It'll give me more excuses to visit!

Rapunzel (later): Mom can we go back to the Dark Kingdom? I need my betrothed to touch up my roots. The blonde is showing again.

**Author's Note:**

> It didn't wind up very short after all. Ah, well, that's what happens when Phantom and I get to talking.
> 
> With luck, the regular update of Splitting Heirs itself will be next week.
> 
> As always feel free to comment, correct mistakes, or just say extra Kudos. Thank you all for reading!


End file.
